A Simple Question

Before getting to this week’s topic, a note about two very important events observed this week:

• July 4 is Independence Day in America. It commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776. America has been called “The land of the free and the home of the brave.” That distinction is being challenged these days. God bless America!
• July 5 is the 21^st birthday of Terry’s and my dear grandson, Kolby Ryan Keith. He’s a very fine young man who brings much joy to his family and to many other people. God bless you, Kolby! Mimi and I love you very much!

Now to A Simple Question. Lots of bad things happened last week and, so far, this week:

• The savage and satanic killing of nine Christian women and men in a Charleston church.
• The massacre of at least 39 people, mostly foreigners, on a beach in Sousse, Tunisia.
• The mid-air explosion of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket after Cape Canaveral liftoff.
• A 350 point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
• The Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states of the U.S.

The Supreme Court ruling drew lots of attention. Almost immediately after its release, religious and political leaders from the U.S. and other parts of the world offered their opinions. Some were emotional. Some were rational. Some were theological. Some were political.

Rather than add a lengthy opinion to that growing body of literature, I suggest we consider one simple question. Carried to its logical conclusion, if same-sex marriage someday replaces traditional marriage, either totally or essentially, from whence will the next generation(s) come?

God ordained marriage as a special, lifelong union of one man and one woman. His plan includes the natural order of procreation by which the population of the world is replenished by the fertilization of an egg from the body of a woman by a sperm from the body of her husband.

Artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization, both still requiring egg and sperm and both including their own set of moral and ethical questions, are the current options. In the future, watch the soaring value of companies that specialize in those procedures.

Hard decisions for church and clergy may very well lie ahead. In the meantime, the church needs to continue to be the church, proclaiming the Word of God in all its truth and purity. That includes the miracle of God’s grace, his undeserved love and forgiveness for sinners—male and female, young and old, black and brown and white, heterosexual and homosexual.

The church should never condone what God’s Word considers sinful. Nor is it our place to judge, a responsibility reserved for God alone. Here’s one Law and Gospel reality: When we think someone else does not deserve God’s grace, we need to remember that neither do we.

Especially at this time of previously unthinkable developments, Lord, have mercy!

Independence Day and National Youth Gathering

The second sentence of the July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence says: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Today, 237 years later, we see, hear, read about and sometimes even personally know or are related to members of the armed forces who have given life or limb in protecting the freedoms we so often take for granted. In addition to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, Americans highly value the freedoms of religion, press, expression, choice and assembly.

How ironic it is that the expression of these freedoms often results in toleration and eventual acceptance of ideas, concepts or behaviors not in sync with traditional Judeo-Christian values.

For example, according to a story on the front page of Tuesday’s USA Today, we see a shift in approval of same-sex marriage from 25% of Americans in 1996 to 55% of Americans in 2013. (Source: June 2013 survey by Princeton Survey Research and previous polls by Gallup.)

Contributing to the continuation of that trend, the United States Supreme Court in recent weeks struck down parts of the Defense of Marriage Act, with rulings that most likely will result in more widespread acceptance of same-sex marriage in more than the twelve states that, along with the District of Columbia, currently approve it.

Closer to our home in Texas, the State Legislature is embroiled in a controversy over approval of a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and would require abortion clinics to meet rigid hospital standards. To say the least, supporters and opponents of abortion are quite animated in expressing their respective positions.

It’s obvious that the expression of freedom does not always produce a result that’s either pleasing or peaceful to all concerned, not to mention in accord with the will of God.

On a more positive note, nearly 25,000 young people and their adult counselors have assembled this week in San Antonio for the 12th LCMS National Youth Gathering (NYG). That includes 17,500 teens, 4,800 adults, 500 young adults and 2,500 volunteers! What a positive witness these young people have given in the nation’s seventh most populous city!

Here in San Antonio, the freedoms mentioned above have been demonstrated in remarkable fashion. These young people make me humbly proud to be a part of the LCMS!

In the past several years I’ve heard with my own ears from some who want to put an end to these gatherings. That includes, during my administration years ago, some members of the LCMS Board of Directors. Some critics continue to express their opposition today to the NYG.

On the other hand, my ears have also heard many positive testimonies from young people who have attended NYGs in the past. They speak of the life changing and faith building impact the gatherings have had on their lives. A few have testified that they came to a gathering with the intention of ending their life, but abandoned that plan as a result of what they heard and experienced at the NYG they attended. God be praised!

I thank God for LCMS Youth Ministry staff and volunteers who spend much time and energy planning and conducting these gatherings. I also thank God for the dedication and commitment of parents, pastors, DCEs, youth counselors, Concordia University students and the young attendees themselves for the commitments of time and money to plan for and attend the NYG! And I pray the positive influence of the LCMS National Youth Gathering will continue for many years to come!

May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always!